A newsroom romance worthy of the front page

Former Toronto news anchor delivers top story of true love

By Jillian Cecchini

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, 01:07 PM

After nine years of delivering the news to Torontonians, Kevin Newman, with wife, Cathy, is leading a quieter life and learning to appreciate the “now.” With their two children, Alex, 25, and Erica, 22, who are building their own lives, the couple recently welcomed a rescued schnauzer from Iqaluit, named Eddie, to keep them company. Here, Kevin shares their love story:

The first impression
We were an office romance in a Toronto television newsroom in the early ’80s. I had just started as a reporter, and Cathy was an editorial assistant. One of my cameramen friends was interested in asking her out, and I was a fairly shy guy who never made a quick move. Something about Cathy made me unusually bold, so to beat the cameraman, I called her at three in the morning and asked her out on a date. To my surprise, she said yes. Once we went public with our relationship, two of the more cynical producers placed bets on how long we would last as a couple and didn’t give us great odds. I suppose we’ve beaten them!

The first date
I asked Cathy to attend a play at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, thinking she might appreciate something artistic. After, we went for drinks at a bar on Queen Street West, and the manager eventually had to ask us to leave because they were sweeping the floor and stacking chairs — closing hints we missed because we were so enraptured with one another. I took Cathy back to her apartment and risked a kiss at the door. It made me dizzy and light-headed, and I remember thinking, “There really are fireworks!” After the kiss, I drove in the opposite direction to my home and didn’t become aware of that for a good half hour. I was smitten.

The proposal
I was about to move to Ottawa to report on Parliament, and Cathy was still working as an entertainment reporter in Toronto. On our last night before embarking on a long-distance relationship, we went to see the movie Splash. In it, mermaid Daryl Hannah and human Tom Hanks are about to live apart, and Hanks has to make a life-changing decision to follow her. As we were walking home, I thought to myself, “I don’t ever want to be without Cathy either,” so I proposed to her in our apartment. It was simple and beautiful, and she thankfully said yes.

The big day
We were married on June 15, 1984, at the Knox College Chapel at the University of Toronto, and our reception was held at Toronto’s original city chamber, St. Lawrence Hall. It was a simple affair, with the caterer arriving late and the DJ not arriving at all. I asked a friend of mine to go home and grab his stereo system and record collection, which was far better than the DJ would have had. The dancing was fun, our families and friends had a good time and we left shortly after midnight for the now-demolished Constellation Hotel at Toronto’s airport. We slept in the next morning and made our flight to our honeymoon in Bermuda with seconds to spare.

Secret to their success
Assume it will never end — that you will do whatever it takes to ensure it doesn’t. Marriages don’t survive on autopilot. They need to be tended to and navigated. But as they deepen over time, there is no richer way to live your life.